On The Front Line!

Speaking of hangry, we got something going on at the Truth Network that's going to help the world not be so hangry. Yeah, he's talking about just needing God's Word. He said, please help the Truth Network send Bibles to Africa.

And we know that they need God's Word. We have until the end of the month, just $5 gets a Bible in the hands of a poor, impoverished believer all over the African continent with the help of the Bible League. Just $5.

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This is the Truth Network. Graduation season's here, and I am with a young graduate. And this guy is out of college. He's got his diploma, and you would think that, man, jump in the business world, man.

Go right out there and get a job. And by the way, that's not a bad thing at all. But this guy is going to North Africa.

Nathan, what is going on with that, man? God bless you. Congratulations on graduating. Was it Bob Jones University?

Yep, Bob Jones University, Greenville, South Carolina. Graduated with accounting. Accounting? So had accounting.

Had some... It's a liberal arts university, so got to do a bunch of other things. Computer science, intercultural communication studies, those types of things. And I'm going to North Africa for two months with Frontline Missions. So it's their FX internship program. The purpose of the program is to get on the ground and work with missionaries in closed countries. And the specific missionaries we're working with, I believe they have some business as mission type setups that they're doing. And so as someone with a business background, I'm looking forward to meeting them, getting to know them, and being able to develop a relationship with believers in closed countries, as well as be able to meet people in those countries. Yeah, so you got a proud granddad here, Rich, who's in our Wednesday in the Word.

And that's why it's a little loud. We're still at Dario, man. We can't get out of here, man. Pastor Jay and Cousin Brian, just everyone's encouraging. And I noticed a bunch of guys got around you and prayed for you. What was that about there toward the end of the Bible study? A bunch of guys went and put their hands on you and prayed for you. Yeah, several men here at the Bible study wanted to lay hands on me and pray for me as I go. And it was a huge blessing just being able to kind of feel what Paul is feeling in the Philippians and in the Epistles when he's talking to them and thanking them for their prayers, thanking them for their support. I've had several people donate financially to me on this trip, and I've been really blessed to receive that, but also just rejoicing with people partnering with me in the Gospel, whether it be through prayer, whether it be through financial support, whether it be through advice. It's just been amazing.

So why would you do this? I hear about a lot of internships, people getting a big company, get a step up, climb that ladder. Here you get an accounting degree from a great Christian institution with a high-level academics, Bob Jones University, and you're on your way to a two-month missions trip, missions internship. Tell us how did God get you to this point?

Give us a little bit about the testimony, Nathan's testimony. Yeah, so I'm going into public accounting. I have a job with one of the big four accounting firms, and typically there isn't a lot of work to do in the summer, so they won't bring people on until the fall. So my start date will be in October. And so there's just a huge chunk of time between when I graduate and then when I actually go into my career. And there's different stuff I've got to do. I've got to study for the CPA exam and pass that before I go and start or within the first few years of starting.

And I've had a chance to get a jump start on that, so I've already completed one section and passed it, and I've taken another section, there's four total. And so I'm sitting here thinking, I've got all this time, what can I do with that time? Well, I can go get a job and probably not make near as much money as I'm going to be making in a couple months. Or I could, you know, develop myself, that sort of thing. But I really, I didn't have a good idea of what I wanted to do, but I had known about Frontline and what they do and had read about their internship program. And I decided, hey, I've been to the Middle East before, Israel and Palestine on a study abroad. I really love the culture, love the area. And so I decided they were going to North Africa.

So I decided this would be a good step for me to take to see where God would have me long term, as well as to use the time that he's given me wisely. That is so cool. And I'm looking at your card right here. It's got your picture. You got that cool sweater.

You have that v-neck sweater. And it says, Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous deeds among all peoples. First Chronicles, 1624. Was it about that verse that resonates with a man who's not even 21 years old? Your whole life's ahead of you and you just got out of college and you're off to the mission field for a two month internship. Tell us how that verse really is is a driving force of all this.

Yes. So, you know, especially in the United States over the past few years, we've seen racial tensions at Heights, whether it be this past summer with George Floyd, whether it be back in Baltimore a couple years ago. And one of the things when I went to Israel and Palestine that I saw was that ethnic conflict between Israelis and Palestinians between Jews and Arabs and all the tensions there. And one of the passages that came out to me and just shook me was the in Revelation.

I believe it's 7 9 it says and I saw a great multitude before the throne, which no man could number of every tribe nation and tongue. And it hit me that the gospel what Jesus is drawing us into is a bride, a multiracial inter-ethnic bride of every tribe nation and tongue. And what that did for me is is recognize wait, like if if I'm going to, you know, truly live out my faith. I have to be concerned not just with the American Church, but it is truly a global enterprise and that's something where especially with business. I mean every part of the world has business to some degree. Some are more developed than others, but it's an amazing way to get in to serve communities and to get into communities in ways that a traditional missions model can't and be able to build relationships with people and build trust so that when you say you're Christian and when you talk about that, you actually have an avenue to have those conversations. So as a trained accountant, you're a businessman.

You go into it. There's a credibility factor. You go into any country and you come in if you come in and say hey, I'm a missionary if you lead with that, which is true of all every Christian, every Christian is a missionary. But if you lead with that, then it might get shot in the head, right?

Or they may never let, they may never stamp the passport. But if you say I'm a businessman, there's something about that that God can use I guess to engender credibility and to open a door for a gospel that that many missionaries for years have tried to get through. In fact, missionaries love Marketplace missionaries like you.

Yep. Yeah, and even thinking back to Genesis 1, where God talks about the scriptures open within the beginning God created. So the one of the first things we learn about God is he's a creator and a worker and then he creates us and he says let them be fruitful multiply and subdue the earth and have Dominion. He creates us in his image and one of the key ways that we image God is through our work and that is something that not just Christians and not just unbelievers do.

It is something that every human does. And so when you're when you're working when you're serving your community and and when you are doing an incredible job in your work, what you're actually doing is reflecting God. And so it's a way that you can connect with unbelievers because even unbelievers see people who work hard and people who care about their communities and there's like there's something different about that person and having the proper motivations behind it and being able to communicate those is just an avenue that I'm really excited about having. And you went to a Christian College. Did that help prepare you for a life of service to Christ?

Yes. So at Bob Jones I was able to interact with professors who didn't just have their fields in mind, but they have the gospel in mind with what they were teaching us. It's also a liberal arts university.

And so I didn't just learn accounting. I got to take some computer science courses. I got to take some English history philosophy theology all these breath of subjects and one of the classes I took it's called incarnation the humanities and it's all about how God becoming man interacts with the humanities and interacts with our world. And one of the key things I learned in that is because everything was created through Jesus and for Jesus when we learn about these different subjects, we're actually getting to learn more about God because creation reflects him. And so having a liberal arts gospel focus of all work is important work and we are here to serve God in our work. Well that enables me to go and you know, not just care about the people in my field, but you know care about the service industry worker care about the plumber the construction worker the accountant the lawyer care about the business person. It's it's not just one person doing one thing that's important.

It's all of us working together to be fruitful multiply and subdue the earth and have Dominion. Yeah, that's awesome. How can we pray for you Nathan on his way to North Africa right out of college and he's going to serve Christ for a couple months and that's going to really invigorate him for how he serves Christ going into the workforce. And I know your granddad rich. We pray for him all the time in here. Don't we brother rich? What a great man of God.

He's brags about you all the time now. It's good to see you and interview you on Truth Talk nationwide. We got to support our missionaries friends everyone out there. If someone is coming to you and they need help for the mission field help them. Don't even don't even think twice make sure they're given the gospel, you know, this is a good group.

It's frontline missions. They're really gospel-centered evangelistic. They believe the word of God is the word of God. Jesus is who he said he was and that salvation is only by grace through faith in Christ alone. So quick prayer call out and then we got to go.

Yeah. So if you would play pray one, it is a closed country, especially for believers in North Africa or for people who are North African natives who convert a lot of them family poisonings. I've heard are decently common as well as just persecution as American going in. I don't have as high of a risk of being persecuted but prayers for safety as we communicate the gospel as an old ultimately people would come to see Christ as their Savior and as well as I go in one of the things I'm looking for is to see would God have me on a mission field long term or would he have me being helping support and helping orchestrate those types of ventures. So prayers for wisdom for me and and the team that's going in.

Praise the Lord. Well, I got your card here. I'm gonna take a snap a selfie with you with this card here and send it out all our friends to pray for you as you go to North Africa shortly. Not far away from now, right? Yeah, only I think we're leaving early June.

Awesome. Pray for Nathan and then there's a website frontline missions, I guess is the website frontlinemissions.info and just look up Nathan in North Africa and then you can send them a hundred bucks or you can send a prayer read read about what they're doing to your kids. Great bedtime story modern day modern day David Livingston going to Africa to share get the gospel of Jesus Christ friends. Who are you going to go to share Jesus with today?

Maybe it's that 20 million count mission field coming to us right now from our Hispanic friends coming in. We can share Christ with them everywhere we go. We're here on mission to share the good news of Christ. He's the only one that can save anyone. Amen. Amen. This is the Truth Network.